UK social media ban for under-16s criticized as ineffective and punitive

The report concluded that there is little evidence to suggest that social media, in and of itself, is harmful to mental health. Rather, it is how social media is used, and the content and algorithms people are exposed to, that can affect mental well-being.

He is willing to support the billionaires of Silicon Valley by pushing generative AI into every facet of the workplace, while allowing them to cut jobs and punishing young people for the failures of those same billionaires who profit from algorithms promoting harmful content.

That is the real reason why this ban exists. Starmer's government has been complicit in supporting the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza, while allowing private companies to ravage and undermine many of the public services that remain.

Its ownership, management and operation must be transparent and democratically accountable. That can only be achieved if social media is run as a publicly owned service based on democratic principles, rather than as a profit-driven machine governed by secretive systems and algorithms.

Even the Molly Rose Foundation, which was established by Molly Russell's father after the 14-year-old took her own life after being exposed to harmful online content, has criticised the ban.